At Rivercity they lined up for Mantracker

People have admired him as the star of the Canadian TV reality show “Mantracker.” This weekend, his fans in Sault Ste. Marie get the chance to meet him. He is Terry Grant, and he took time to speak with SooToday.

Dec 1, 2012 9:05 AM by: Darren Taylor, Sootoday

People have admired him as the star of the Canadian TV reality show “Mantracker.”This weekend, his fans in Sault Ste. Marie get the chance to meet him.

He is Terry Grant, and he took time to speak with SooToday.com Friday afternoon at Rivercity Motorsports as people started to line up, eager for him to sign their copies of his first book, entitled “Mantracking: The Ultimate Guide to Tracking Man or Beast.”

The book, co-authored by Sault writer and columnist Nadine Robinson (shown with Grant), tells of Grant’s expertise in dealing with the great outdoors, gathered through a lifetime of being a cowboy, hunter, guide, search and rescue man and all-round rugged guy.

Grant explained “this book is for everybody. For kids, the weekend hikers, it’s a refresher course for search and rescue people and professionals like cops…for anyone spending time in the bush or on the trail, this book will help them along.”

“It’s all about being more aware of your surroundings.”

Grant, who lives in High River, Alberta, praised co-author Nadine Robinson for taking his knowledge of tracking and putting it all into written word.

“Nadine was the driving force behind it. She suggested it, and Nadine’s done a tonne of work on this while I’ve been out in Alberta. We only had about four face-to-face meetings about the book, I would talk over the phone and she put my words on paper…she’s done a great job.”

“Mantracking: The Ultimate Guide to Tracking Man or Beast” is not for sale in stores, but only online at www.mantracking.ca.

Online pre-orders began earlier this month, with Sault readers having the option to pick up their copy at Rivercity Motorsports Friday.

The “Mantracking” Sault Ste. Marie book tour was scheduled to continue at Algoma University’s Speak Easy pub at 8 p.m. Friday, and continues Saturday at Canadian Tire from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Grant will also be dropping the puck at the Greyhounds game on Saturday December 1st.

“Mantracking” is approximately 240 pages long, with about 10,000 copies printed so far.

Grant told SooToday.com an e-book version will soon be available.

If all copies available at the Sault book signings are sold out, you can go online at www.mantracking.ca and use the promo code “HOOPED” to get 10 percent off a copy before 12 p.m. (that’s “high noon” in cowboy language!) December 5th.

Grant said “if you’re hunting or hiking, tracking gives you an idea of what to look for and where to look for it.”

Now 54, Grant continued “I’ve been a cowboy all my life and tracking is second nature, it gives you a heads up on what’s in front of you.”

“If you see a moose track in the spring and it’s got calves with it, you want to pay a little more attention because they can get a little grumpy. Instead of just walking down the trail and looking at the birds and getting lost, you can actually look at the ground and see what you’re stomping on, and if you see a bear track and recognize how fresh it is, you can say to yourself ‘there’s a bear around here’ and be more cautious.”

Recalling his years as a search and rescue worker, Grant said “quite often all you have to go on is a boot print and a direction of travel and follow it as far as you can...sometimes you have to backtrack and make sure the person didn’t drop something, and then you keep tracking them until you find them. Sometimes that’s the only way to find them.”

Robinson told us at today’s book signing “people have come out in droves, this is amazing. This is an awesome, very supportive crowd.”

“I’m really proud of the book. I was honoured that Terry would let me be the one to work on this project with him, and when you see it done, you can’t help but feel like you’ve brought a new baby into the world. We’re proud parents for sure!” Robinson beamed.

$2 from each copy sold in Sault Ste. Marie will go to the Local 529 Firefighters’ Charity Fund.

Donations were also being accepted at Friday’s book signing, with the money going to United Way of Sault Ste. Marie and District and designated to Sault Search and Rescue.